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    Dead or Alive Ultimate

    Game » consists of 4 releases. Released Oct 26, 2004

    A package of both Dead or Alive and a Dead or Alive 2 (recreated for the Xbox) both enabled with online play.

    bennyishere's Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox) review

    Avatar image for bennyishere

    Besides Live play, DOA:U is a step back

    DOA Ultimate is a remake of Dead Or Alive 2 and 1. You'll get one disc for each game in the same package. DOA 1 (being the Saturn game it is) is a look back at the primitive yet slightly enjoyable game that started it all. Not a bad game at all, but the casual gamer probably won't be playing this game too much. DOA 2 however, is extremely polished and has tremendous graphics. My biggest complaint is the lack of moves. Many of my favourites moves and combo throws from DOA 3 is absent in DOA 2, but the reason is of course that they weren't on the original DOA 2... This robs the game of gameplay and was very unwanted with me.

    The arenas are pretty cool, with many more stairs and stuff, but there's just too few of them.

    DOA 2 features a large amount of costumes, where some characters (like Kasumi) can have 20 costumes. Of course the later costumes are from the Xtreme Beach Volleyball game and will bring joy to many breast-lovers out there... The costumes are 137 in total and there's only 2 per character who doesn't need to be unlocked! These are unlocked by completing Story mode with the character you need costumes for. Or if you have unlocked the unlockable characters (you need a DOA 3 save file to unlock the last one) you can collect all items in Survival mode to completely unlock all costumes and extras. These extras include G4TV's look behind the Dead Or Alive series, GC gallery (collection of sexy pics from DOA XBV) and a booster which you can use to get the costumes for your DOA 3 file! The latter is the extra I cared most about... But once you've gotten all the 66 items in Survival (which takes surprisingly short time) there isn't much to do! If you're like me and have played through DOA 3's Story mode uncountable times and remember almost every move sequence from the characters, gameplay falls to zero in DOA Ultimate. Here's where Live play comes in, though. It's a good Live function, but the lack of moves makes it a lesser experience than it could have been if there was Live on DOA 3...

    The sound in the game is what you'll expect: lame music, but cool sound effects and shouts.

    The Story mode in DOA Ultimate is very disappointing. It explains nearly nothing and has a total of maybe 5 minutes with video per character that's not even CG! And the final boss is a cliché in looks and a downer in the moves department. And there's only 7 stages.

    Brad Wong, Christie and Hayate are missing in DOA Ultimate, only Tengu (the boss) is new in the game. And if you don't have a DOA 3 save file either, Hitomi isn't playable.

    All in all, this is a DOA game and therefore a great fighting game, but since it's a remake of DOA 2 and 1, people who are looking for a game that have more to offer compared to DOA 3 while be disappointed. Live and more costumes are of course great, but they're just the few things that keeps this from being a game no DOA 3 player should buy.
    DOA 3 was much better, even without Live and many costumes. Luckily, unlocking the Booster in DOA Ultimate makes the experience on DOA 3 much better!

    I hope DOA 4 won't disappoint that much, but it's practically certain that it won't.

    Other reviews for Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox)

      A Fun Look Back at the Series 0

      Dead or Alive has been around for almost 10 years (do you feel old now?) and has firmly stood near the top of the heap of 3D fighting games through the years.  DOA Ultimate is a compilation of sorts.  On the first disc, you receive the Saturn version of the original Dead or Alive, which never came to North America.  It's a perfect port except for the fact that you can now play it online.  On the second disc, the main attraction, is a completely revamped Dead or Alive 2, which originally deb...

      2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

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